Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Fours - The 400m Hills of England

Pt. 431.1m (NY 308 042) – 400m Sub-Four deletion

There has been a deletion from the listing of The Fours - The 400m Hills of England due to LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Aled Williams and subsequently by Myrddyn Phillips.  This list takes in all English hills at and above 400m and below 500m in height that have a minimum 30m of drop, the list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and the 2^nd edition of the booklet containing this list was published by Mapping Mountains Publications on the 24th April 2018.

LIDAR image of Pt. 431.1m (NY 308 042)

Accompanying the main list of The Fours - The 400m Hills of England are three categories of sub hills, with this hill being deleted from the 400m Sub-Fours.  The criteria for which are all English hills at and above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m and more and below 30m of drop.  

Prior to LIDAR analysis this hill was listed with an estimated c 20m of drop, based on an estimated c 431m summit height based on interpolation of its uppermost 430m ring contour that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map and the 411m col spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey Interactive Coverage Map hosted on the Geograph website.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

As the authors do not know an individual name for this hill either from local and/or historical research it is listed under the point (Pt. 431.1m) notation and it is situated in the Central and Western Fells of the Lake District and is placed in Region 34, Section 34B, with its Cardinal Hill being Scafell Pike (NY 215 072).  The hill is positioned between Great Langdale to its north and Little Langdale to its south and has the village of Elterwater towards its east north-east.

As the summit of the hill is a part of designated open access land it can be approached from a number of directions, with access from the north-west and from the east probably being the most convenient.

However, it was not until LIDAR became available that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales.

Therefore, the deletion of this hill from 400m Sub-Four status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 431.1m summit height and a 412.7m col height, with these values giving this hill 18.4m of drop, which is insufficient for it to retain its 400m Sub-Four status.

The full details for the hill are:

Cardinal Hill:  Scafell Pike

Name:  Pt. 431.1m

OS 1:50,000 map:  90

Summit Height:  431.1m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  NY 30843 04224 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  412.7m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  NY 30755 04311 (LIDAR)

Drop:  18.4m (LIDAR)

For the additions, deletions and reclassifications to The Fours reported on Mapping Mountains since the December 2013 publication of the list by Europeaklist please consult the following Change Registers:

The Fours

The Fours – 400m Sub-Four

The Fours – 390m Sub-Four

The Fours – 390m Double Sub-Four

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (May 2018)